Arriving in Split

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Split Harbour

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Mom, Kim, Julie C. and I meet in Frankfurt for our connection to Split. From the plane I can see that the water is a beautiful turquoise and that the land is quite arid, almost desert-like, though mountainous. We arrive in the early afternoon and take a 350 kuna cab to our hotel, Consul Hotel. At this point we have no idea how much that is in US dollars because of the terrible exchange rate in the airport. We climb two flights of stairs to our suite with a large entry room, bedroom, living room and balcony overlooking part of the city. We take a short nap and then walk down to the Harbor.

Split is Dalmatia’s largest city and it’s a bustling cosmopolitan place that mixes old and new. The Roman emperor Diocletian founded the city in AD 295 and built his retirement palace here. The remarkably intact complex of Diocletian’s Palace still forms the core of the city. We entered through the Bronze Gate from the Riva and initially walked down into the subterranean chambers where many vendors were selling local crafts. We came out the other side in the Peristyle, a colonnaded sunken square housing a couple of cafes and what looked to be hosting some sort of concert. Outside is the Cathedral of St. Domnius. We didn’t pay the fee to enter or climb the belltour because we got there too close to closing.

The Riva

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We headed back out to the Riva, one of Croatia’s busiest promenades, and sat down at a café to enjoy a cool drink. Did I mention how hot it is here? It had to be about 90+ degrees. It was early evening and we got to enjoy a parade of people in their finest heading out for the night.

Next we found a café in a quiet courtyard for dinner. Kim and mom had pasta. I had a calamari salad. We were surprised at how expensive the fish on the menu was, as much as our half hour taxi ride from the airport.